Bill short, robust, slightly arched, rather obtuse, the base covered by feathers. Upper mandible with the dorsal line convex and declinate, the ridge convex, the sides convex, the edges sharp and overlapping, the tip thin-edged and rounded; lower mandible with the angle long and wide, the dorsal line ascending and convex, the ridge broad, the sides convex, the edges inflected, the tip rounded. Nostrils in the fore part of the large and feathered nasal depression, roundish.
Head small, ovate; neck of ordinary length; body large and full. Feet stout, of moderate length; tarsus short, feathered; toes stout; the first very small, the lateral about equal, and much shorter than the third; the anterior toes connected by basal scaly membranes, partially covered with feathers; all with broad and short scutella, margined, but scarcely pectinate, the lateral scales not being prominent. Claws rather large, arched, compressed, rather obtuse.
Plumage full, soft, rather blended, the feathers broad and rounded. A bare papillate space around the eye. Feathers on the upper part of the head narrow and elongated. Wings rather short, convex, much rounded; the quills very strong; the third longest, the fourth next, the third and sixth about equal, as are the first and seventh. Tail large, of ordinary length, rounded, of twenty feathers, which are broader toward the end, and abruptly rounded.
Bill brownish-black, lighter at the base. Iris dark hazel. Toes bluish-grey, claws wood-brown. Papillar space around the eye vermilion. Upper parts blackish-brown, the wings lighter. The elongated feathers on the head greyish-brown; the hind neck minutely undulated with bluish-grey; the scapulars, inner secondaries, and smaller wing-coverts also minutely undulated with grey and brownish-red, and most of the latter with a small greyish tip; the rump and upper tail-coverts obscurely undulated with grey. Alula, primary coverts and quills, clove-brown, the secondaries bordered and tipped with yellowish-grey; the primaries mottled with grey on their outer webs. The tail is black. The sides of the head, fore part and sides of the neck, and fore part of the breast greyish-black; the lore and throat are barred with white; the greyish-black of the breast passes into blackish-grey, and finally into dull bluish-grey; the feathers of the abdomen tipped with greyish-white, as are the lower rump and tail-coverts, which have moreover one or two narrow bars of the same; the flanks undulated with black and marked with an elongated white spot along the central part and on the tip; axillary feathers white, as are the inner wing-coverts; the tarsal feathers brownish-grey. The concealed part of the plumage is light grey, unless on the feathers around the bare space on each side of the neck, which is of an orange colour, and which the bird inflates.
Length to end of tail 22 inches, to end of wings 15 1/2, to end of claws 18 1/2; extent of wings 30; wing from flexure 9 1/2; tail 7 1/2; bill along the ridge 1, along the edge of lower mandible 1 2 1/2/12; tarsus 1 9/12; hind toe 6/12, its claw 6/12; second toe 1 2/12 its claw 7/12; third toe 1 10/12, its claw 8 1/2/12; fourth toe 1 5/12, its claw 6 1/2/12.
Female. Plate CCCLXI. Fig. 2.
The female is considerably smaller than the male. The bare papillar space over the eye is of much less extent, but, as well as the bill and feet, is coloured as in the male. The upper parts are dark greyish-brown, barred on the neck with grey, on the other parts barred and minutely undulated with yellowish-brown; the wings as in the male, but lighter and more mottled; the tail greyish-brown, becoming black toward the end, the middle feathers undulated like the back, and having four grey bands with a terminal white one. The sides of the head and the throat are greyish-white, undulatingly barred with brown; the general colour of the fore neck is greyish-brown, with pale sienna bands; on the breast the colour is brownish-grey, and the colours and markings of the rest of the under parts are as in the male, but paler.
Length to end of tail 19 1/4 inches; wing from flexure 9; tail 6 1/4; bill along the ridge 10/12.
In a specimen in my possession, killed by Dr Townsend on the “Columbia River, Sept. 26. 1834,” the tail is considerably rounded, the lateral feathers being 7 twelfths shorter than the longest remaining, the middle feathers being lost. The tail is deep black, with a terminal band of ash-grey, half an inch in breadth. It is therefore probable, that when the tail is unworn, it is distinctly rounded, and tipped with grey.